The Two-Way Player

A Yahoo! Fantasy Baseball connundrum

The Dilemma

Shohei Ohtani will be baseball's first two-way player in 100 years. Fantasy baseball platforms are not equipped to handle a single player that can generate hitting and pitching stats. As a result, all the major platforms are scrambling to find solutions for Ohtani’s arrival. Yahoo Fantasy Baseball made the polarising decision of creating two Shohei Ohtanis. In this case study, I examine the reasons for this decision and explore a way to improve the current game.

The Dilemma

Shohei Ohtani will be baseball's first two-way player in 100 years. Fantasy baseball platforms are not equipped to handle a single player that can generate hitting and pitching stats. As a result, all the major platforms are scrambling to find solutions for Ohtani’s arrival. Yahoo Fantasy Baseball made the polarising decision of creating two Shohei Ohtanis. In this case study, I examine the reasons for this decision and explore a way to improve the current game.

Background

Ohtani is a Japanese baseball player who will be suiting up for the Los Angeles Angels of California in Major League Baseball after spending his first 5 years of professional baseball in the NPB (Nippon Professional Baseball). He is a starting pitcher AND position player (outfielder) for the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters. Considered the best player in the Japan, Ohtani won top pitcher and top outfielder distinctions in 2016.

Ohtani is a Japanese baseball player who will be suiting up for the Los Angeles Angels of California in Major League Baseball after spending his first 5 years of professional baseball in the NPB (Nippon Professional Baseball). He is a starting pitcher AND position player (outfielder) for the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters. Considered the best player in the Japan, Ohtani won top pitcher and top outfielder distinctions in 2016.

Background

It’s become commonplace for Japan’s best players to come to the US and play in the world’s best league. But what was uncommon was his contract demands stipulating that he must be used as a hitter when he isn’t on the mound starting. Ohtani’s pitching prowess is unquestioned while the consensus among talent evaluators for MLB teams believe he has the skills to be an all-star as a pitcher as well as a hitter. American professional baseball has not seen a true two-way player since Babe Ruth in 1919. The hype surrounding Ohtani’s stateside arrival was unprecedented.

Background

Pitchers are known to be bad hitters. In the National League, pitchers hit for themselves. In the American League, the designated hitter hits for the pitcher. In fantasy baseball, where stats rule, pitcher’s hitting stats would be a detriment to the fake team’s cumulative stats. The bad outcomes would far outweigh the good ones and for this reason pitchers’ hitting stats don’t count (and vice versa, position players who come on to pitch do not accumulate pitching stats).

Outside of the dalliances of journeyman such as Brooks Kieshnick, Micah Owings, Rick Ankiel or Christian Bethancourt, the two-way luxury of these players were negligible due to their overall talent level. At best, you were looking at mediocre production from a pitching and hitting perspective. In the end, no player would come close to accruing enough appearances (5 for pitchers, 10 for position players) to qualify as a position player and pitcher.

Ohtani's entrance into the league looks to buck this trend.

The Future

In 2017, two first round draft picks (Brendan McKay and Hunter Greene) are expected to enter their professional careers as starting pitchers who will function as position players in between starts.

Ohtani is the trailblazer but the McKays and Greenes will normalize the status of the two-way player.

Baseball has been evolving rapidly over the past decade. Sabermetrics and advanced stats have become a critical tool when evaluating performance. Pitchers have been used differently to maximise effectiveness with the advent of the opener and bulk reliever. Front offices and management are getting more creative with roster spots. The two-way player is a here to stay.

the 2018 game

Two Ohtanis, Yahoo’s answer to the Ohtani dilemma and basis for this case study: Two Roster Spots, One Player

There's over 10 major players in the fantasy baseball industry and they each employ a resolution that makes the most sense in terms of time and development hours needed to upgrade their system to include a two-way player. Below are five of the most common solutions:

CBS Fantasy Baseball: (Option #1)
One Ohtani, Two-Way Capability

One Ohtani who can do both: One player that can be a hitter OR a pitcher on any given day
Create a pitcher/hitter hybrid category: Player could be used as a SP or UT and generate stats for both pitching and hitting at any and all times. The most ideal outcome but also problematic from a UI and development standpoint. Also might not be worth the hassle for only one player to take advantage of.
Include batting stats for all pitchers: This would drastically affect drafting strategy and the value of National League (NL hitters hit, while AL pitchers have a position player hit in their place) hitters.
Pick one position: The laziest and least fun solution. The fantasy platform will choose if Ohtani is a pitcher OR hitter.
Two Ohtanis: The second laziest and next to least fun solution. No platform revamp for this solution. It’s a simple solution but one that takes all the fun out of having a two-way player when it will take 2 roster spots / 2 draft picks to acquire all the talents of Ohtani.

the 2018 game

ISSUES

Get rid of the Enter District screen
Sign-up too early in the checkout process could deter some users
Too much scrolling can cause confusion especially when user wants to make changes

Fantasy baseball is tailored towards managing and analyzing players who belong to one of either two groups, hitters or pitchers. Yahoo's team management UI follows this method to a tee. And to its credit, Yahoo's game is extremely user-friendly.

The challenge is to create a simple UI update that effectively collects the pitching and hitting stats from an individual player that occupies one active lineup spot, whether it’s from the offensive or pitching side.

My Team Page
‍Key page where fantasy players manage roster moves and views team statistics. Hitters and Pitchers are segregated into 2 district categories.

1

The Barrier
‍Even if players were able to qualify for a hitting position as a pitcher, this barrier creates a UI obstacle

2

Starting Lineup Totals
‍Stat totals for each group makes it difficult to account for players who can generate stats from a the other side of the "barrier"

3

My Solution

The Two-Ohtanis solution has effectively taken a lot of the fun out of the Yahoo game. Shohei Ohtani is the most exciting thing to happen to Major League Baseball in quite some time. He has the potential to be the most valuable asset the sport has ever seen. Every draft day for the next ten years, Ohtani should be the most coveted player. Instead, Yahoo has severely limited his potential by making him one decent hitting option and one decent pitching option.

The most realistic and fun managing experience is what all fantasy players want, so it is the goal of this case study to make some simple visual updates to make a true 2-Way player possible on Yahoo's fantasy baseball platform. Although there are some major database obstacles to overcome, it would only take a few simple UI improvement to make the 2-Way Player a viable option on the Yahoo platform.

Objective

The Two-Way Player in fantasy baseball should mirror its real-life usage in Major League Baseball
One player should generate statistics for both hitting and pitching as long as they have reached the position qualification quota
The Two-Way Player should possess a potential similar to that of an extra player in your starting lineup with the flexibility of choosing to roster him as a pitcher or hitter

Inspiration - Yahoo Fantasy Football

From a fantasy standpoint, it's a simpler game. Less stats, way less games, Sunday gameday and the overall popularity of the sport make it the most widely played. But like fantasy baseball, there is a positional divide. For example, a defensive back cannot be rostered as a flex (UT).

It's common for players to make plays on the other side of the ball in football. A defensive players who runs back a touchdown off of a turnover (or in this case an offensive player making a defensive play on a turnover) are rewarded by accruing statistics in fantasy football.

Breakdown Pop-up + "I"

Yahoo Fantasy Baseball product team doesn't have to look far, their counterparts at Football already incorporate conventions that accrue stats from the side of the ball.

ISSUES

Get rid of the Enter District screen
Sign-up too early in the checkout process could deter some users
Too much scrolling can cause confusion especially when user wants to make changes

My Solution

I target the features highlighted in the Current Setup section because I believe that these are some minor updates that can provide a great impact of providing a basis for the introduction of new elements to succeed.

For No Roster Barrier, I eliminate the visual gap between position player and pitchers to deemphasize the positional segregation that has existed since the inception of fantasy baseball. Baseball is changing and so should the mindset of fake team managers.

My Team Page Layout

Place scores on top of page. This will alleviate Hitting/Pitching divide created by the cumulative hitting and pitching lineup totals.
Cleaner application of scoring as user can see how the team as a whole did on the day.
Use color coding, creates clearer view of active lineup and bench options.
Elimination of gap deemphasizes the positional segregation and promotes players being substituted across all positions.

1

My Team Page Substitutions

Subbing in and out is a more cohesive experience with no gap between Hitters and Pitchers.
The 2-way player has his own special color which lets the user know this player can be allotted as hitter or pitcher.

2

Highlighted Scoring

By moving the cumulative team stats to the top, this alleviates confusion when 2-way player generate stats when rostered on other sides of the ball.
2-way player statistics for the day are always highighted in blue to let the user know that this player has or can contribute stats on other side of the ball.

3

Player Card

Player Card is one of the most useful features of the My Team page. It allows users view up to date news about each player as well as year to date stats and game log. A tab will be implemented in order to view pitching and hitting stats.

4

ISSUES

Get rid of the Enter District screen
Sign-up too early in the checkout process could deter some users
Too much scrolling can cause confusion especially when user wants to make changes

Overview

"As a diehard fantasy baseball player — it’s my favorite fantasy game — I don’t love this option. The majority of the room did not want to do two Ohtanis..."

2020 Update

Entering a third full season of Ohtani, no fantasy platform has adopted a True 2-Way solution and Yahoo still utilizes Two Ohtanis. The real life player had a major elbow injury and couldn't pitch in 2019. As a result, he only acted as a hitter last season. Even though we didn't see Ohtani the pitcher last season, we saw Reds pitcher Michael Lorenzen used as a hitter and position player off the bench and saw the debut of Brendan McKay. He was mostly used as a starting pitcher but also received a start at DH for one game when he wasn't pitching.

Ohtani's 2019 injury only lessened the urgency for platforms to feel the need to make an improvement. But now with more organizations entertaining the idea of two-way players, us fantasy players can only hope that this is less of a novelty and more of a real, permanent thing. Only then Yahoo might be ready to do the right thing.

Guy Lake, Yahoo's Fantasy Sports Project Lead has been on record saying that the Two Ohtani solution was strictly a "business-slash-technical decision". The backend statistical application of each individual player would need to be revamped, resulting in months of extra work. He also added that this would be a "forever decision." (Lemire)

Maybe there's not enough time to make the changes for this upcoming season but why rule out planning for 2019 or 2024? Below are the 3 major reasons why Yahoo should reconsider this permanent change.

Yahoo Needs to Stay Ahead of the Curve
As one of the leading names in the industry, it makes sense to giv’em what they want. With its strong reputation, Yahoo can afford to be the innovator. Providing fantasy managers with a truly 2-way player would attract frustrated managers from other platforms that don't employ a true 2-way.
Avoid Change Aversion
Two different profiles for one individual player is too far of a leap for many fantasy managers to accept.
The Game is Evolving
With more and more MLB organisations developing two-way players, fantasy platforms need to cater to the hybrid player to better reflect the real life game. Yahoo's current solution seems less like a permanent solution and more like a one-off fix.

Time and money should always significantly influence the direction and evolution of a product. But in this particular case, I think Yahoo made a short-sighted decision that could negatively impact an industry leader in the near future.